The Adventure of Faith

Last Friday evening and Saturday morning I had a chance with about 150 other followers of Jesus to hear a report from George Otis Jr. about what God is doing around the world. George and his Sentinel group have documented over 1000 revivals and regional transformations over the last 11 years.Ironically, few have occurred in the West.I know we have been praying for revival for over 20 years and it seems no closer now then when we started.The question is asked…is revival solely a sovereign work of God or is He waiting for something from us?George had an answer to that question.

In his research, George had found that when the conditions were right, when certain factors were present, the presence of the Lord would come to a place and bring radical transformation and revival. The time lag between the conditions being right and God’s coming was usually between 36 hours and 30 days.Not one year, 10 years, or 20 years….but within days God would come.

From his research, George found there were three distinct phases that happened every time. The first phase was the Invitation Phase.That is where the people prepared their hearts, cried out to God, began the work of personal revival, and invited God to come with expectancy.The second phase was the Visitation Phase. This is when the PRESENCE of God shows up in a powerful way. This is not sensed in one church but all the churches and outside the church. People in schools, in shopping centers, everyone senses the Presence of God. In one revival on the Hebrides, ships passing near these islands had people on board fall on their knees and cry out to God for mercy. It was the Presence of God alone that shook them!The final phase is the Transformation Phase. Here the holiness and presence of God is so palatable that every area of society begins to align with His ways.Schools, churches, government, every sector begins to reflect His character.

So what is God waiting for? He is waiting for us.There are four qualities that He is looking for from His people.They are Holiness…Humility…Hunger…Hopelessness.He is not waiting for all of society to have these…He is waiting for his people to pursue them.One of the reasons why the West has so hard a time in embracing these qualities is that we are a “can do” people. Our own human initiative has served us well and made us a powerhouse in the world. We are problem solvers. We can always figure out a way. We build programs in our churches, we set goals and objectives, and we develop our plans.If the first one doesn’t work, we come up with another…and another… and another.We don’t get hopeless or desperate enough to CRY OUT TO GOD TO COME AND RESCUE US. We don’t invite God to come and have his way. We never reach desperation.

Unfortunately I fit that Western description. I desire the Lord to come…but I need to press into some personal revival.I invite you on this journey with me. As Isaiah says in 57:15 “For this is what the high and lofty One says- he who lives forever, whose name is holy:‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.’”

About

My name is David Gschwend and I have been journeying with Jesus since 1971. He had been pursuing me a lot longer than that, but it was my senior year in high school that I finally decided to start following him. After graduating from college I taught high school biology and chemistry for four years. After that, I worked in the electrical industry in testing and troubleshooting high, medium and low voltage power equipment. Finally in 1989 my journey took me into the pastoral ministry. After 16 years serving in traditional churches Jesus led me in June 2006 to begin a movement of networks of reproducing house churches from San Jose to Monterey, CA (www.gatheringbythebay.org). This has been the craziest part of the journey so far!